Christmas trees and babies

Sorry if this isn't a very hot topic, but I was wondering how you ladies plan on dealing with the xmas tree and small children. DD is 14 months, and we usually get a 'real' tree. All I can envision is DD eating pine needles and annihilating ornaments/presents. I thought about putting the baby gate around the tree, but that's ugly; and I don't know if that would even deter her. So what do you experienced mommies do regarding xmas trees and toddlers?!

Sorry if this isn't a very hot topic, but I was wondering how you ladies plan on dealing with the xmas tree and small children. DD is 14 months, and we usually get a 'real' tree. All I can envision is DD eating pine needles and annihilating ornaments/presents. I thought about putting the baby gate around the tree, but that's ugly; and I don't know if that would even deter her. So what do you experienced mommies do regarding xmas trees and toddlers?!

I'm a big believer in not child proofing everything - as in, yes, all the outlets are covered but breakable things are within reach. Oldest DD is 2 so her first mobile Christmas she was 14 months. Basically anytime she got near the tree we would say "no touch" loudly and sit her down. She would get upset and try it again and we would repeat. After a day, she never touched the Christmas tree or even the trees at my mom's/mil'd house. I am a bit nervous this year bc second DD is 6 months and starting to crawl and I don't think she has the emotional maturity to understand "no touch". Should be a nice experiment :/

I'm a big believer in not child proofing everything - as in, yes, all the outlets are covered but breakable things are within reach. Oldest DD is 2 so her first mobile Christmas she was 14 months. Basically anytime she got near the tree we would say "no touch" loudly and sit her down. She would get upset and try it again and we would repeat. After a day, she never touched the Christmas tree or even the trees at my mom's/mil'd house. I am a bit nervous this year bc second DD is 6 months and starting to crawl and I don't think she has the emotional maturity to understand "no touch". Should be a nice experiment :/

Yeah I thought about just telling her 'no' if she goes near it, but she hasn't really responded well to us telling her not to do something. We've been trying to get her to leave the cat food alone and she seems to think it's a game when we tell her no. Or maybe I need to be more stern. Thank you very much for the suggestion ;)

Yeah I thought about just telling her 'no' if she goes near it, but she hasn't really responded well to us telling her not to do something. We've been trying to get her to leave the cat food alone and she seems to think it's a game when we tell her no. Or maybe I need to be more stern. Thank you very much for the suggestion ;)

Yeah, I have that problem with my DH, the girls have him wrapped around their little finger, lol. The key is being very stern and making eye contact, and also the "shock" of sitting them down or removing them from the area. Hope it works and good luck!

Yeah, I have that problem with my DH, the girls have him wrapped around their little finger, lol. The key is being very stern and making eye contact, and also the "shock" of sitting them down or removing them from the area. Hope it works and good luck!

I got so lucky with my first, she never showed interest in the tree. It still baffles me that she didn't. I doubt I'll be so lucky with the second. I imagine she'll be starting to crawl by Christmas so we'll see. I'll probably put baby friendly ornaments on the bottom just in case. We have a fake tree so I don't have to worry about falling needles.

I got so lucky with my first, she never showed interest in the tree. It still baffles me that she didn't. I doubt I'll be so lucky with the second. I imagine she'll be starting to crawl by Christmas so we'll see. I'll probably put baby friendly ornaments on the bottom just in case. We have a fake tree so I don't have to worry about falling needles.

I'm not an experienced mommy with Christmas trees, but we have an artificial one and I put ornaments that they couldn't break closer to the bottom. All the breakable ones are from the middle up to the top.

I'm not an experienced mommy with Christmas trees, but we have an artificial one and I put ornaments that they couldn't break closer to the bottom. All the breakable ones are from the middle up to the top.

I put my tree up early (DS is 16 months) so far when he goes to touch it and I say no, sometimes I get stink eye, he even cried a little once...I ignore it and within seconds he moves on. We point at it and i talk about how pretty it is and for the most part he ignores it. In fact at this moment he is sitting in front of it playing with his blocks and paying no attention to it. However we are not big on child proofing other than outlet covers, so teaching him not to touch things in our home has been ongoing since he has been mobile and this was no difference and went better than I expected.

If you babe is more spirited about touching then you could do the baby gate, but then you may end up having to do that for the next couple of years.

I put my tree up early (DS is 16 months) so far when he goes to touch it and I say no, sometimes I get stink eye, he even cried a little once...I ignore it and within seconds he moves on. We point at it and i talk about how pretty it is and for the most part he ignores it. In fact at this moment he is sitting in front of it playing with his blocks and paying no attention to it. However we are not big on child proofing other than outlet covers, so teaching him not to touch things in our home has been ongoing since he has been mobile and this was no difference and went better than I expected.

If you babe is more spirited about touching then you could do the baby gate, but then you may end up having to do that for the next couple of years.

Like others, I put non breakables towards the bottom. I always let them touch ornaments with one finger and taught them how I wanted them to do that. If they went too far, I told them no. For some reason that was enough for my rambunctious kids.

Like others, I put non breakables towards the bottom. I always let them touch ornaments with one finger and taught them how I wanted them to do that. If they went too far, I told them no. For some reason that was enough for my rambunctious kids.

We will be doing a lot of redirection in our house. Lol!! I don't believe in child proofing my tree other than making sure light connectors are safe and hidden in the back, breakable ornaments are higher up and we do have a real tree... Last year dd was 9 months and crawled under the tree a ton so we anchored it to the ceiling. Lol!! No more shaking that tree baby!! This year she'll be 21 months and I'm just hoping she'll have "better listening ears" My older two children never had an issue with my tree... This little one is my monster! Ha!! Good luck!!

We will be doing a lot of redirection in our house. Lol!! I don't believe in child proofing my tree other than making sure light connectors are safe and hidden in the back, breakable ornaments are higher up and we do have a real tree... Last year dd was 9 months and crawled under the tree a ton so we anchored it to the ceiling. Lol!! No more shaking that tree baby!! This year she'll be 21 months and I'm just hoping she'll have "better listening ears" My older two children never had an issue with my tree... This little one is my monster! Ha!! Good luck!!

I have an artificial tree because there are so many allergies in my family. In the last few years with little ones I put non breakable ornaments on the bottom where the kids can reach. I put the breakable ones out of their reach. Then I get on to them if they mess with the ornaments. After a couple of days they leave them alone and just like to look at it.

I have an artificial tree because there are so many allergies in my family. In the last few years with little ones I put non breakable ornaments on the bottom where the kids can reach. I put the breakable ones out of their reach. Then I get on to them if they mess with the ornaments. After a couple of days they leave them alone and just like to look at it.

Last year my son was 13 months old. We weren't sure how he would be with a Christmas tree so we used a pre-lit artificial tree and didn't put any ornaments on it. It was still very pretty. Our son liked to touch it, but we told him to be gentle and let him check it out. He was interested, but didn't attack it like I thought he would. This year we are taking our chances with a real tree and ornaments. He listens pretty well (when he wants to) so I think it will be fine.

Last year my son was 13 months old. We weren't sure how he would be with a Christmas tree so we used a pre-lit artificial tree and didn't put any ornaments on it. It was still very pretty. Our son liked to touch it, but we told him to be gentle and let him check it out. He was interested, but didn't attack it like I thought he would. This year we are taking our chances with a real tree and ornaments. He listens pretty well (when he wants to) so I think it will be fine.

Dd was not yet walking on her own yet last year but could cruise. I just wrapped the totes we used for decorations in wrapping paper and stuck them in front if the tree. They were wide and tall enough that she couldn't reach. This year will be a but more interesting but I'm a no gate person. She'll learn.

Dd was not yet walking on her own yet last year but could cruise. I just wrapped the totes we used for decorations in wrapping paper and stuck them in front if the tree. They were wide and tall enough that she couldn't reach. This year will be a but more interesting but I'm a no gate person. She'll learn.

The material on this website is provided for educational purposes only and is not to be used for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, or in place of therapy or medical care. Use of this site is subject to our terms of use and privacy policy

Advertising Notice

This Site and third parties who place advertisements on this Site may collect and use information about your visits to this Site and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like to obtain more information about these advertising practices and to make choices about online behavioral advertising, please click here